Physics, Life Sciences, and Dragon Cargo Transfer Top Tuesday’s Task List for Crew

Physics, Life Sciences, and Dragon Cargo Transfer Top Tuesday’s Task List for Crew

NASA astronaut and Expedition 67 Flight Engineer Bob Hines is pictured during maintenance activities inside the International Space Station's Unity module on May 14, 2022.
NASA astronaut and Expedition 67 Flight Engineer Bob Hines is pictured during maintenance activities inside the International Space Station’s Unity module on May 14, 2022.

The Expedition 67 crewmembers aboard the International Space Station spent Tuesday predominantly on research, maintenance, and cargo transfer operations.

Research beneficial to humans on Earth and future crews in space is happening around the clock aboard the orbiting laboratory. NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren used a majority of his day to service samples for the Immunosenescence investigation inside the Life Science Glovebox. Results from this study may one day inform treatments for accelerated aging processes commonly observed in microgravity and contribute to countermeasures for normal aging progression.

NASA Flight Engineer Bob Hines inspected the Cold Atom Lab (CAL) Moderate Temperature Loop Jumper to check for leaks. In the CAL, atoms are chilled to temperatures near absolute zero, allowing scientists to observe fundamental behaviors and quantum characteristics not possible on the ground.

Meanwhile, NASA Flight Engineer Jessica Watkins set up hardware and worked on the Space Fibers-3 space manufacturing study. ESA (European Space Agency) Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti took over Space Fiber-3 study runs later in the day.

Early in the day, Cristoforetti swapped samples inside the Electrostatic Levitation Furnace, an advanced research device that enables high-temperature thermophysics studies.

A larger contingent of the crew — Cristoforetti, Hines, Lindgren, and Watkins — took turns transferring cargo from the SpaceX CRS-25 Dragon spacecraft.

Maintenance tasks continued in the Russian segment, with Commander Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos checking for leaks in the Zvezda service module and Flight Engineer Denis Matveev refilling freon bottles to maintain the orbiting laboratory’s air-conditioning system. Matveev also set up dosimeters for a long-running radiation detection experiment while cosmonaut Sergey Korsakov worked on the Cardiovector study.


Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

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Heidi Lavelle

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Prep for New Research and Orbital Plumbing on Crew’s Monday Schedule

Prep for New Research and Orbital Plumbing on Crew’s Monday Schedule

The sun's glint beams off the Caspian Sea in this photograph from the International Space Station as it was orbiting on a southwest to northeast trek 262 miles above Turkey near the Black Sea coast on June 24, 2022.
The sun’s glint beams off the Caspian Sea in this photograph from the International Space Station as it was orbiting on a southwest to northeast trek 262 miles above Turkey near the Black Sea coast on June 24, 2022.

The Expedition 67 crew members kicked off their work week setting up for experiments later in the week and completing orbital plumbing duties.

NASA Flight Engineer Jessica Watkins and ESA (European Space Agency) Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti supported the Rodent Research-22 experiment. The space biology experiment observes how microgravity affects tissue regeneration.

In the morning, NASA Flight Engineer Bob Hines removed samples of the final Fiber Optic Production-2 space manufacturing study and packed up the hardware. And, in the evening, Hines set up hardware for the new Space Fibers-3 space manufacturing study.

Station Commander Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos worked on the Cardiovector study. Cardiac research is also a space research priority as doctors learn to keep astronauts safe and healthy during long-term exploration missions. Along with Cosmonaut Denis Matveev, Artemyev also stowed the hardware and tools from Thursday’s spacewalk. Cosmonaut Sergey Korsakov checked the brakes on the European Robotic Arm.

NASA Flight Engineer Kjell Lindgren was on plumbing duty, servicing the station’s bathroom. He checked drain valves and replaced the recycle tanks. Located in the Tranquility module, the Waste and Hygiene Compartment also recycles urine into drinking water.


Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Heidi Lavelle

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Spacewalking Crew Sleeps In, Astronauts Work Science and Maintenance

Spacewalking Crew Sleeps In, Astronauts Work Science and Maintenance

NASA astronauts Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins are pictured inside the cupola, the International Space Station's
NASA astronauts Bob Hines and Jessica Watkins are pictured inside the cupola, the International Space Station’s “window to the world,” after monitoring the successful rendezvous and docking of the SpaceX Dragon space freighter on its 25th Commercial Resupply Services mission on July 16, 2022.

Four Expedition 67 crew members slept in on Friday following a spacewalk the day before at the International Space Station. The other three orbital residents wrapped up the workweek researching a variety of space phenomena, unpacking a U.S. cargo ship, and maintaining orbital lab systems.

Commander and six-time spacewalker Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos led ESA (European Space Agency) Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti on her first spacewalk on Thursday. The duo set up the European robotic arm for operations on the Nauka multipurpose laboratory module during a spacewalk that lasted seven hours and five minutes. Ten nanosatellites were also deployed into Earth orbit for a radio technology experiment at the beginning of the excursion.

Artemyev and Cristoforetti woke up late on Friday and spent the rest of the day cleaning their Russian Orlan spacesuits and inspecting spacewalk tools and tethers. Cosmonauts Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov also slept in on Friday having monitored the spacewalkers and assisted the duo in and out of their spacesuits the day before. The pair also helped out with the post-spacewalk activities returning the Poisk airlock to its normal configuration and re-opening the hatch to the ISS Progress 80 cargo craft.

The station’s three NASA Flight Engineers including Bob Hines, Jessica Watkins, and Kjell Lindgren, worked a normal shift on Friday and wrapped up their workweek focusing on an array of science and maintenance operations.

Hines swapped fiber optic samples for a space manufacturing study, photographed samples for a cell-free protein production experiment, then activated the Astrobee robotic free-flyers ahead of a student robotics competition. Watkins continued unpacking cargo from inside the SpaceX Dragon resupply ship before stowing hardware for a water recycling experiment. Lindgren worked on payload cable connections then moved on to orbital plumbing tasks inside the station’s bathroom, also known as the Waste and Hygiene Compartment.


Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog, @space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Heidi Lavelle

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Russian, European Spacewalkers Wrap Up Robotic Arm Excursion

Russian, European Spacewalkers Wrap Up Robotic Arm Excursion

ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti works outside the space station's Russian segment to configure the new European robotic arm. Credit:NASA TV
ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti works outside the space station’s Russian segment to configure the new European robotic arm. Credit:NASA TV

Expedition 67 Commander Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) concluded their spacewalk at 5:55 p.m. EDT after 7 hours and 5 minutes.

Artemyev and Cristoforetti completed all but one of their major objectives, which included the deployment of 10 nanosatellites designed to collect radio electronics data during the spacewalk and installing platforms and workstation adapter hardware near the 37-foot-long manipulator system mounted to Nauka. The spacewalkers also relocated the arm’s external control panel and replaced a protective window on the arm’s camera unit. The last planned activity, to extend a Strela telescoping boom from Zarya to Poisk, will be completed on a future spacewalk.

Additional spacewalks are planned to continue outfitting the European robotic arm and to activate Nauka’s airlock for future spacewalks.

The work on the European robotic arm will be used to move spacewalkers and payloads around the Russian segment of the station.

This was the sixth spacewalk in Artemyev’s career, and the first for Cristoforetti. It was the sixth spacewalk at the station in 2022 and the 251st spacewalk for space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.


Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog@space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

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Mark Garcia

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Spacewalkers Exit Station to Configure New Robotic Arm

Spacewalkers Exit Station to Configure New Robotic Arm

Exp 67 Commander Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA began a spacewalk at 10:50am ET to continue outfitting the European robotic arm on the space station’s Nauka laboratory by opening the hatch of the Poisk docking compartment airlock.
Exp 67 Commander Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA began a spacewalk at 10:50am ET to continue outfitting the European robotic arm on the space station’s Nauka laboratory by opening the hatch of the Poisk docking compartment airlock.

Expedition 67 Commander Oleg Artemyev of Roscosmos and Flight Engineer Samantha Cristoforetti of ESA (European Space Agency) began a spacewalk at 10:50 a.m. EDT to continue outfitting the European robotic arm on the International Space Station’s Nauka laboratory by opening the hatch of the Poisk docking compartment airlock. Coverage of the spacewalk continues on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

One of the first tasks will see Artemyev and Cristoforetti deploy 10 nanosatellites designed to collect radio electronics data during the spacewalk, which will be the 251st in support of station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.

The duo will install platforms and workstation adapter hardware near the 37-foot-long manipulator system mounted to Nauka. The spacewalkers also will relocate the arm’s external control panel, replace a protective window on the arm’s camera unit, and extend a Strela telescoping boom from Zarya to Poisk to facilitate future spacewalks.

Artemyev is wearing a Russian spacesuit with red stripes, while Cristoforetti is wearing a Russian suit with blue stripes. This will be the sixth spacewalk in Artemyev’s career, and the first for Cristoforetti. It will be the sixth spacewalk at the station in 2022 and the 251st spacewalk for space station assembly, maintenance, and upgrades.


Learn more about station activities by following the space station blog@space_station and @ISS_Research on Twitter, as well as the ISS Facebook and ISS Instagram accounts.

Get weekly video highlights at: http://jscfeatures.jsc.nasa.gov/videoupdate/

Get the latest from NASA delivered every week. Subscribe here: www.nasa.gov/subscribe

Get The Details…

Mark Garcia

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